Hyderabad: Apparently frustrated by the delay in the formation of a separate Telangana state, a student of Osmania University in Andhra Pradesh committed suicide early Saturday, police said.

The body of Bandaru Srinivas, an engineering student, was found hanging from a tree opposite the library on the Osmania University campus. He hailed from Mahabubnagar district of Telangana region.

Srinivas' friends said he was depressed over the delay in granting statehood to Telangana. Police shifted the body to Gandhi Hospital where an autopsy was conducted.

The incident led to tension on the campus. The university had witnessed clashes between police and pro-Telangana students over the past three days.

Osmania University Students' Joint Action Committee demanded that the police hand over the body to them. They plan to bring the body to the campus to enable all students to pay their tributes.

Telangana Joint Action Committee chairman M. Kodandaram, state BJP chief G. Kishan Reddy and some other leaders visited the hospital to pay their last respects to Srinivas.

Srinivas is the third student to end his life on the university campus.

Pro-Telangana groups say over 600 people, mostly youth, committed suicide in the last three years over the delay in the formation of Telangana state.

Telangana shutdown evokes mixed response

The day-long Telangana shutdown called by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to condemn arrests during Friday's march to seek separate Telangana state evoked partial response in the region on Saturday.

Normal life was affected in five districts but there was not much impact in other districts including Hyderabad. Educational institutions were closed across the Telangana region, which comprises 10 districts of Andhra Pradesh.

Shops and business establishments were closed in several parts of Warangal, Medak, Mahabubnagar, Karimnagar and Nizamabad districts.

The state-owned Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) was operating partially in the region. Its services in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad were running as usual, but most of the buses leaving for Telangana districts were cancelled due to lack of passengers.

The police arrested several TRS leaders and activists at various places in the region, when they staged a sit-in outside the APSRTC depots since early morning on Saturday to stop buses from going out.